Kent Family Magic Circus Daily Blog: SF Variety Artists Holiday Get Together 2009

Last year was my first time attending Jay Alexander's holiday party for magicians, variety artists and circus performers. It was held at the Historic Lefty O'Douls Pup on Geary Street right off Union Square in SF. (The bar is nearly 100 years old and was started by Lefty O'Douls a player for the old SF Seals. The walls are covered in SF baseball memories and whether on purpose to make a statement or accident The picture of Barry Bonds' record breaking 73rd home run in the season is hanging in the bathroom. And because Marilyn Monroe was once Norma Gene DiMaggio her image and a statue of her adorn the joint too. The place is SF's baseball shrine. The food,in particular the corned beef and cabbage was spectacular. Drinks in the joint are outrageously priced whether spirited or not, though the food is fairly priced. )

The gathering seemed a bit smaller than last year and a few faces were absent. But in there stead I saw many new faces, for me (since I am a relative new face to this group myself...though being from the Sacramento valley I can't really lay claim to being a Bay Area Performer, though we do several shows in the area each year).

I was accompanied by my good friend Bill Jackson and my son Juggglin' Jim.

The event is a no host event though Jay was defacto the host. We all just had to buy our own food and drink, and I liked that, even though I am of Scottish descent (watered down with English, German, Canadian, Cherokee, Jewish, Irish, Black, and Japanese by marriage. Normally I don't like my Scotch watered down but in this case I suppose it's OK ;-) ) I joke often how Scottish folk are cheapskates...if you can't pick on yourself who can you pick on.

We arrived early in SF knowing that at 6pm parking is free on the streets...the meters turn off. So we pulled in front of Lefty's about fifteen minutes before 6 and waited around Bill's mini-van until the big hand was on the 12 and the small hand was on the 6. Then we locked up and slalomed around the homeless people that seemed to be spaced every eight to ten feet with various means of getting your attention where by getting it they would ask for your money. One gent dressed in rags and dirt used a puppet to garner attention. He didn't even try to be a ventriloquist, he just moved his lips, and so did the puppet, who was dressed just like his human buddy. There wasn't enough spare change in the collective pockets of everyone on the street to provide for the large number of beggars. I was astounded at the larger numbers this year over last. (SF has many programs to provide shelter, medical and even free paychecks for the homeless, and with the economy being what it is I suppose those factors have driven the numbers up. Seemed like there were even more than there were in the '80s when I worked in this town. Heart breaking. Sometimes scary.)

Since I had worked in SF many years ago I wanted to see my old haunts and my old work places so I took Bill and Jim on a quick walking tour. Though the downtown layout hadn't changed much the shops within that layout had. The book store, the Woolworths, the Izokaiya, the soup shop and many other places I loved to patronize back then were all gone. There were newer, sometimes hipper joints occupying there window fronts now. Such is progress?

Back at Lefty's we lined up to get our food; cafeteria style. Then Jay spotted me just as I spotted him and we waved briefly across the room. We joined him and his lovely family in the back. His wife and kids were with him. They also had another guest with them. Their family had recently taken up training dogs for people with special needs; guide dogs. The one they currently had was a beautiful white lab.

Like last year we were one of the firsts to arrive. So by the time the majority of the crowd came in we were rubbing our overstuffed bellies and picking our teeth (metaphorically speaking).

Two by two, one by one, and group by small group, people began to arrive and the small talk, catch-up talk, and introductions began. There were many new faces and a few old, or more correctly familiar...though my face was older. I participated in the small talk and even had a few deeper conversations I find more pleasure in watching people.

I will skip the details of any conversations as they will remain what they were private, even the superficial ones.

I was a little heart broken that I didn't get to chat with SF's most wonderful children's performer, a clown I met many many years ago at a fair. I will omit his name but I seemed to get the brush off from him and when I looked on facebook he was missing among my friends list so I man guessing somewhere along the road I upset him about something. I can't imagine what and since he brushed me off, though politely, I guess I may never know what it was I did and will never be able to make amends for it. Sad! (I do have to admit that I can brush people the wrong way sometimes...my personality has that brashness that come across smug to some or mean to some....unintentially.) But as the saying goes you can't make everybody happy all the time...unless your name is JC! (JC Dunn is the world's nicest man and couldn't make anyone mad with him if he was trying...and he would never try.) Still I will miss my former friend. He is an awesome performer and in my early days he gave me much good advice.

On a happier note I met some fabulous new faces like Jim Farrbinder (SF Ghost Hunt), Allen Gittelson (Mindbender), Sylvia Brallier (Comedian, hypnotherapist), Tobias Beckwith (Manager), Lawrence Lemon (Magician), Patrick Martin (illusionist) and many other's whose names escape at this writing. Plus I meet a number of familiar Faces Frank Olivier (many titles), Glenn (Big Al Capone- magician), Jay Alexander (Magician of the Mind and more), Brain Asman (Balloonist), Karen Quest (Cowgirl Extraordinaire), Mitch (magician), and many many others who escape my cerebellum at this time.

I have always found it strange that when this number of entertainers get together that at this event no one does any entertaining but that is the nature of this event. I hawever did do a trick or two for Bill, Jim balanced a chairor two on his face and Jay's son Max did a clever PTEO mentalism trick with the selected item appearing as a picture on his dad's cell phone. It was neat.
I've always like that trick as it is one of my friend JC's favorite tricks to do.

We had a long drive back to the valley so we snapped a few pictures and left arounf 9 something.